Swami Shivapadananda on self-examination
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
Day 532
[Pictured: The Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi in (bodily) old age.]
It is a great pity when I say things like: We do not want any thieves at the Ashram, or, nobody must speak ill about others, or, nobody must admire another man's wife, that everyone always thinks I am talking to their neighbour. They do not think that they are the ones doing it.
There are no previous scriptures which are as practical as the scriptures of Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Sarada Devi. They came at this time to give us the teaching for this Age. Therefore the teachings have to be absolutely practical.
Every speck of ground should be full of God's name. Take that discipline that improves your life towards the Supreme Goal. The easiest way is japa [meditative, concentrated repetition of a mantra or one of God's many names].
Master [Sri Ramakrishna] has promised that whoever worships him will surely reach the goal. Have tremendous faith in Master's words. As you walk out from here, repeat his name. Keep the ground holy with Divine thoughts.
When you want to be alone it is the Self yearning to see Itself everywhere. Once in a while go into solitude and look at yourself. What are you made of? The best time to do it is at the time of meditation when you try to concentrate on That which is everything – then the most precious and the most horrible thoughts come up. People are afraid to see themselves in the mirror of their own minds. But it is the most important thing to see the things which are marring your perfect image, and to replace them with God. The most positive of all positive things is love – love of God.
A God-man slips into God when he loses consciousness. It looks as if he is sleeping, and he is sleeping, but he is 'sleeping' in God. The ordinary man when he sleeps slips away in a tamasic [slothful state of inertia] state. He also is unconscious but he is like a log of wood.
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